Mergenthau Castle

The baroque Mergenthau Castle is located about one kilometer north of Kissing in the district of Aichach-Friedberg (Swabia) on the Lechrain. The former "Tusculum" (country house) of the Augsburg Jesuits still serves as an agricultural estate. In 2006, the "Hiasl-Erlebniswelt" (Hiasl Experience World) was opened in the castle area, which focuses on the life of the poacher and robber captain Matthias Klostermayr.

The current castle estate is surrounded by the ramparts of a large High Medieval castle complex. The castle was probably built in the first half of the 11th century to protect the Welf possessions located near the city of Augsburg. The fortified complex gained particular importance due to its proximity to the Gunzenle, the legendary meeting place on the Lechfeld. The fortress was probably destroyed in 1078/79, but was subsequently repaired.

Welf VI died in 1191 as the last of his line. Part of the inheritance fell to his friend and presumed relative Udalskalk, who was then Bishop of Augsburg. The bishop handed Mergenthau over to the Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg shortly before his death.

In 1249, the episcopal castle appears as "castro nostro Mergatowe" in a document. In 1296, Mergenthau was captured and devastated during a feud between Duke Rudolf of Bavaria and the bishopric. After being relieved by Augsburg troops, the castle was rebuilt. In 1372, the Bavarians destroyed the complex again. The ruins were subsequently exploited as a welcome quarry. Farming families settled in the castle area and its surroundings, cultivating the associated land. In 1147, a Hans Meuting is mentioned. In 1561, Hans Holzkirchner received the collegiate farm in the castle site. In 1602, Wilhelm Weikmann was "Paur zu Mergenthaw" (Kissinger Urbar). "Because this farm was formerly a castle site...", the population of nearby Kissing was obliged to perform corvée labor on the farm ("Hewen, Mehen und schneiden" - mowing, scything and cutting).

In 1642/50, the property came into the possession of the Augsburg Jesuits through exchange, who leased the Mergenthau "Sedlhof". In 1695, an unspecified farm in Mergenthau was sold to a farmer from Aindling.

In 1703, the Jesuits complained that their estate in Kissing, "from which the Collegium entirely derives its livelihood... had been plundered twice by the Imperials and the Dutch/English." However, the inhabitants were able to get to safety. (War of the Spanish Succession).

The previous destructions were probably the reason for the baroque new building of the "Jesuit Castle". Construction began in 1713. Just two years later, the building was ready for occupancy. At the same time, the small castle in Kissing was built as the seat of the judge of the Hofmark.

The country house in Mergenthau cost a total of 17,455 guilders and 55 kreuzers. The design came from Hans Georg Mozart, a relative of the great composer. The original invoices are preserved through a transcript.

In 1722, a barn and a carriage house were added.

The original furnishings of the two "Bauhöfe", i.e. the country house and the small castle, are well documented by the preserved inventory. The rooms were decorated with paintings and engravings, the chapel on the ground floor (Mergenthau) had three altars and "chapel furnishings". The cellars were also richly stocked with wine, beer and other provisions. It is noteworthy that the servants' rooms were also equipped with paintings and copper engravings, and the staff also had their own kitchen. However, the beds were only provided with simple straw sacks. The most valuable piece of the former furnishings was a large painting of the Virgin Mary (2.07 x 1.43 meters) by the Augsburg master Hans Burgkmaier (around 1500). The work was still in the castle in 1865, but was sold to the art trade in 1906 and is now in a private collection in Schweinfurt. In Mergenthau, a good copy from the first half of the 19th century still commemorates the "Madonna on the Lawn Bench".

After the dissolution of the Jesuit order, the property passed to the "Pious Foundation" in Augsburg in 1773, which passed it on to the Catholic Study Fund in 1776. In 1808, the Study Fund had the furnishings auctioned off, and a year later also the buildings. Freiherr von Münch acquired the estate through exchange. In 1811, Sigmund Freiherr von Riedheim auf Harthausen is named as the owner. Subsequently, the owners changed twice more, until Andreas Samm acquired the former Jesuit castle in 1828. His descendants still manage the castle estate today. Events and markets are regularly held on the grounds. In 2006, the "Hiasl-Erlebniswelt" was set up in the economic part. The well-known poacher and robber captain Matthias Klostermayr, the "Bairische Hiasl", was born in Kissing in 1736 and served the Jesuits as a hunting assistant for two and a half years until he fell out of favor because of a carnival prank.